Flower September/October 2019

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”—OSCAR WILDE “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”—L. M. MONTGOMERY, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”—GEORGE ELIOT “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”—F. SCOTT FITZGERALD HOW LOVELY THAT SOME OF MY FAVORITE writers have given voice to many of my feelings about fall. As I live in the South, I am ready to collapse from the heat into the gentle cool of a September or October day. I am also enamored of the oh so dramatic shift in the palette of the outdoors. All things become warm and…

GREENVILLE, MISSISSIPPI Lagniappe September 5 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE G&G Interiors September 12 OMAHA, NEBRASKA Lauritzen Gardens Antiques Show September 21 ATLANTA, GEORGIA Beverly Bremer Silver Shop September 25 Discover ADAC September 26 BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA Antiques at the Gardens October 3 SAVANNAH, GEORGIA Courtland & Co. October 17 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Longue Vue House & Gardens October 24–25 NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA Maximalist Studios October 30 ATLANTA, GEORGIA Holland MacRae November 1 Order your book at flowermagshop.com 205-970-9775…

TO UNDERSTAND THE GENIUS joie de vivre of decorator Tom Scheerer, look no further than page 40 of his latest book, Tom Scheerer: More Decorating (Vendome, 2019). Below a photograph of a chic Parisian bedroom, the caption reads: “The cotton bedspreads are from Les Indiennes. The wall assemblage was made by the decorator out of Ikea picture frames and leftover paint from the adjacent room.” Now who in their right mind would use Ikea frames and leftover paint in the midst of such sophistication? “I’ll never be accused of jumping on decorating bandwagons,” Scheerer writes. And yet, his taste—unchanged over the decades—remains pitch-perfect. Rattan chairs, Saarinen tables, natural materials, hat racks, and other winks of the eye make his rooms a delight to behold. In this newest book, Scheerer features…

IN HER NEW BOOK, Entertaining at Home (Rizzoli New York, 2019) hostess Ronda Carman offers a veritable cocktail buffet of entertaining inspiration. Recruiting a lively mix of fashionable friends, designers, architects, shop owners, and chefs to throw parties in their own homes using their own pieces and recipes, she has compiled a trove of ideas that feel road-tested and ready to use. Bettie Bearden Pardee captures old-school elegance with a clam chowder meal in her Newport orangerie. Suzanne Kasler throws a French-inspired lunch on her Atlanta patio. Julia Reed, a name synonymous with Southern hospitality, hosts a spring fling in New Orleans. And iconic hostess Lynn Wyatt (looking fabulous in a striped caftan and statement necklace) throws a lively margarita lunch on her South Texas ranch. Aside from the beautifully set…

WE LIVE IN A CASUAL TIME. With tech magnates in T-shirts and ladies who lunch in athleisure, it’s a long way from the suits and pearls of Mad Men. Entertaining, too, has become more casual, as open kitchens invite guests to sidle up to the island and culinary tastes have shifted from ‘haute’ to ‘home.’ Much of this change is positive, making entertaining more democratic and accessible. Amidst the shift, however, something has been lost, and in The Art of the Host (Rizzoli New York, 2019), chef and host extraordinaire Alex Hitz is on a mission to reclaim it. Hitz plants his flag firmly and unabashedly in the traditionalist camp. When it comes to old silver, fine china, tall candles, and fresh roses, more is always in vogue. Though much…

ARCHITECT ERIC J. SMITH loves the stories of houses. At a recent speaking appearance, he was describing the renovation of an old lake cottage he purchased in Michigan. The home is near a golf course and, over the decades, golfers had trudged up and down the stairwell in their golf shoes, leaving spike marks all over the stairs. “In the end, I decided to keep the spike marks,” said Smith. “To me, they are part of the house.” It would be natural for Smith, an esteemed architect, to want to put his own stamp on his home. Instead he approached the renovation with reverence and humility, not so much as an owner but as a steward. In his new book, Renewing Tradition (Rizzoli New York, 2019), Smith offers an extended…